;According to information from the US Embassy, the wait to obtain a visitor visa at the US Consulate General in São Paulo is 354 days.
According to data from the US Department of State, the B1/B2 visa, the tourist visa, is the most requested by Brazilians, accounting for 93% of all entry requests made to the US government in March.
After the various restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the country reopened to vaccinated tourists, including from Brazil, on November 8 of last year.
For comparison, in October, when restrictions were still in vogue, only 1,083 tourist visas were issued to Brazilians. In March (last data available), 70,156 visas of the same type were issued.
For the issuance of student visas and other non-immigrant visas, the current deadline is 1 business day.
Other cities
In other capitals of the country, the waiting time is a little shorter than in São Paulo, but the period is not less than 200 days in cities such as Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Recife (PE), Brasília (DF) and Porto Alegre (RS).
In Rio, the visitor visa has a minimum duration of 252 days, about 8 months, the same waiting period as expected in Brasília. In the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, it takes at least 232 days, or 7 months, to get an appointment — a month longer than in Recife, where the deadline is 204 days.
In these cities, the other visa categories also have much shorter terms than expected for issuing the tourist type, with waiting times varying between 1 and 5 days for students and other categories of non-immigrants.
recommendations
The Embassy recommends that those who wish to visit the country plan on taking into account the wait for issuing the document, which is mandatory for entry into the United States. For those who wish to renew their visa, the wait is shorter.
Those who already have an appointment can change the date at no cost – so it’s worth checking the US Embassy website in case a closer date opens.
*With information from Bruna Macedo, Marcia Barros and Luana Franzão, from CNN
Source: CNN Brasil
